Wal-Mart makes it 6 straight session losses

Target, Kohl's, Sears Holdings, specialty retailers drop too

CHICAGO (MarketWatch) - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. shares rolled back for the sixth straight session Monday, pulling down shares of other discounters such as Target Corp. and Kohl's Corp. as investors worried that higher oil prices and wintry weather would hurt holiday spending.

Though unseasonably warm weather curtailed winter-apparel sales in November, it's the unseasonably cold and snowy climate that threatens holiday sales this month. In the Midwest, for example, temperatures were dipping below zero in certain areas while the East Coast was bracing for a series of snow storms.

Shares of Wal-Mart
WMT, -0.82%
a Dow Jones Industrials' component, backtracked by 1.7%, or 83 cents, to finish at $47.14. On Saturday, Wal-Mart said its December sales are still on track to rise 2% to 4%. However, the world's largest retailer noted that demand for food outpaced general merchandise sales throughout the week ended Friday.

Investors were tougher on Target and Kohl's, which many believe are losing market share to Wal-Mart's aggressive holiday promotions. Shares of Target
TGT, -0.51%
closed lower by 2.3%, or $1.25, to $52.61, while Kohl's
KSS, -2.37%
backtracked 1.8%, or 84 cents, to $46.12.

Target, however, said on a recorded update of its monthly sales late Monday, that receipts at stores open longer than a year -- an important industry measure -- were still on track to rise 4% to 5% in December.

Sears Holdings Corp. shares
SHLD, -5.88%
tumbled $2.79, or 2.3%, to $116.71 after the retailer said it wants to buy all the shares of Sears Canada Inc. that it doesn't already own. See full story.

Off the index, shares of True Religion Apparel Inc.
TRLG
jumped 5.2%, or 78 cents, to close at $15.35 after the apparel maker opened its first retail store. The 900-square-foot store in Manhattan Beach, Calif., will sell both denim and nondenim collections and will be used as a test center for new products.

Shares of J. Jill Group Inc.
JILL
advanced 5.2%, or 95 cents, to $19.33 after the women's specialty retailer said it would consider a sale as part of an exploration of strategic options.

The move is a response to an unsolicited bid made by Liz Claiborne Inc. last month. See full story.

Shares of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers
JOSB
climbed 3.4%, or $1.44, to $44.32 after the menswear retailer reported that third-quarter earnings rose 45% on a 28% jump in sales.

For the quarter ended Oct. 29, Jos. A. Bank made $4.7 million, or 32 cents a share, from $3.2 million, or 22 cents, in the year-earlier period. Sales were $105.6 million compared with last year's $82.6 million. Same-store sales rose 14%.

The results outpaced the consensus estimate of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call by a penny on sales of $104.4 million.

Casual Male Retail Group
CMRG
was off 3.2%, or 20 cents, to 46.06. Shares of Bebe Stores Inc.
BEBE, -7.08%
were off 2.6%, or 40 cents, to $15.29. American Eagle Outfitters
AEOS
backtracked by 2%, or 43 cents, to $20.57.

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